Good Bye
by Favo de Mel
Summary: Their kiss was brief, passionate, intense, contained of all the things they'd said and not said


Good Bye 

A/N: Since I'm kind of stuck with chapter 13 of 'Here We Go Around Again', (stupid Quidditch…), I thought I'd give you this little ficlet. Hope you like it!

Hermione felt her heart sink to her feet as she listened to the dreaded words.

  -You're… leaving?

It was a beautiful night; the stars were twinkling merrily against the velvet night sky and reflected in his enticing green eyes. There were no clouds, and the full moon was shinning brightly on them, bathing the two teenagers in its eerie silver light.

She hated it.

He nodded grimly, not looking at her; he was gazing at his feet instead, slumped shoulders and hands in his pockets, the picture of unhappiness.

  -I have to.,-he said in a flat, dead sort of voice.,-I have to keep you safe…

A shiver ran down her spine as her eyes followed his to the floor.

So it had finally come. The day that Harry Potter, her best friend and, incidentally, her heart, had to go in search of his fate.

It was no surprise to Hermione; she had always known it would come, but the knowledge didn't lessen the pain at all.

  -I guess…,-she began, licking her lips in earnest.,-I guess it would be useless to ask you to stay, then…

She wanted to kick herself for that. Hermione knew she was being selfish, knew he had been entitled to face darkness since he was born, but was it so wrong of her to want him to be safe? To want  him to stay with her?

And, goddamnit, _it was too soon. _

She had so much to tell him, so much she wanted to share with him… and now he was leaving, and it was very likely that he was never coming back.

It just wasn't _fair…_

  -Will you be back?

Her voice was small, barely audible, and it tore at his heart; he wanted to tell her he _would come back-there was nothing he wanted more than to be with her, but he couldn't lie. _

Not to her. 

A small choke arose in the depths of his throat and he tried to swallow it, tried to keep it from sounding. He managed to do so, just barely, but it hurt from the effort. His throat burned; he could feel it in the pit of his stomach, the ache and foreboding that continued to grow in him. 

Clenching and unclenching his fits, Harry gave her a pained look.

  -I don't know…

She hugged herself as her eyes filled with tears; there was a pain in her chest that she couldn't describe but she knew that it was worse, much worse than any pain she had ever experienced.

 -Why?

She knew why, of course, but at this point she wasn't thinking clearly; already she felt at a loss, and he hadn't even left yet.

Harry was looking at her sadly, a haunted shadow lurking behind his eyes.

  -How could I stay here and watch you get hurt, just because someone wants to get revenge on me because of a stupid prophecy long ago?,-he said softly, his eyes looking out at something he couldn't see. 

  -I hate him.,-she rushed out suddenly in a thin, choked voice, and Harry didn't need to ask who it was she was referring to.,- For all the universal reasons everyone else has to hate him, but also for others that are just my own. I hate him because he's hurt you, because thanks to him you have no parents, because, thanks to _him_, you had to grow up unloved and mistreated, locked in a cupboard under the stairs. I hate him because, after _everything _he's done to you he keeps haunting you, because thanks to him you can't have a moment's rest...,-she raised her head to him, and he was stricken by the sight of her usually warm brown eyes, darkened by hatred; tears were rapidly making their way down her face.,-I hate him because he might take you away from me...

He couldn't stop himself, he knew, even if he tried; he came to her and enveloped her in his arms, pulling her close in a intimate embrace. Tears stung his eyes and he couldn't see clearly, but he didn't care. He buried his face into her hair and whispered for her ears alone.

  -I love you.,-his voice was deep, filled with emotion, and he felt a strangled sob rack her entire body as he pressed her tightly to himself.

  -Harry...,-she sobbed, her small hands twisting the front of his robe into knots.

  -I wish I could have told you sooner.,-he whispered hurriedly to her, his lips brushing lightly against her ear; they were running out of time, and he didn't want to let go.,-I wish we could have had more time...

Hermione felt her heart shatter in a thousand pieces at the implied meaning behind his words.

He had no hope of ever coming back.

Panic like she'd never felt, not even around a hundred dementors, rose up in a glistening black tide, threatening to swamp her, to leave her adrift and alone in a sea of despair, and she raised her lips up to meet his, clutching him as if her life depended on it. And it did.

Their kiss was brief, passionate, intense, contained of all the things they'd said and not said; and then Harry pulled back, holding her by the shoulders, head bent as his bangs cast shadows upon his face.

  -Please, Hermione,-he begged brokenly.,-_please be happy..._

He looked at her once, wanting to commit her pretty features to memory although he already had, and then he tore away from her, not looking back as he ran for the forest, leaving his heart behind-and taking hers with him.

  -Harry!

An anguished cry rose in her throat and Hermione staggered on her feet as she tried to move forward to follow him; her legs buckled beneath her and she fell hard on the ground, burying her face on her knees and weeping uncontrollably on her arms.

_He's gone, he's gone, he's gone..._

A dark cloud passed over the moon, engulfing the heart-broken girl in its darkness.

A/N: Well, this is certainly sad... ***sighs*** Bloody hell, I _hate _good-byes… Inspired on a night last May, when Nicholas, my crush, told me he was leaving for Europe, (those who've read my other story, 'Here We Go Around Again', know just how adorable he is). Of course, there was no Dark Lord, nor there was a kiss, (I wish), but it hurt as hell.


End file.
